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ChrisV

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  1. ChrisV
    Hey!
     
    Made some progress on the art for Phobia. Modelled a metallic bench on wheels for surgical tools, a pillow, and done some changes to the wall textures. I'm really satisfied with how it is turning out.
     
    Also modified shad's toon shader, and the result is pretty awesome!
    The shader is now less cartoony, but enhances the scene in a number of ways! I get a PBR effect, the materials and lighting comes out much better, and it really adds a dirty horror feel to the entire scene.
     
    Working on some surgical tools and other props to spice up the scene.
     
    Let me know what you think! Thanks!
     

  2. ChrisV

    My artwork for Phobia.

    By ChrisV,

    Hello guys!
     
    As mentioned on the Hostile thread, Roland and myself have joined the guys from Narcoleptic Studios to work on the psychological horror adventure game Phobia.
     
    It will be a pleasure to work with such devoted and talented guys, and i'm very happy to be part of the team.
     
    Together we have enough talent to develop an outstanding product, and create a game experience you'll not easily forget.
     
    During the development, i'll be posting screenies of WIP models and art that i create for Phobia.
     
    Here's such an image. It started out as a 'test', but turned out waaaaaay better.
     
    A hospitalbed, and our little friend...Teddy:
     

     
    More to come soon...
  3. ChrisV
    Hello everyone,
     
    First of all, a Happy New Year to you all, a good health, lots of game creation, and all the rest you might desire!
    It seems that altering/perfectionizing is a human nature, which also happens to be mine.
    S.C.O.T. has gone through more changes since last time, and I can happily say, that these changes have made it soo much better. Finally got the right atmosphere/mood settings for the way it loox on screen.
    Roland has done a tremendous job getting the game mechanics and gameplay working, such as health/power pickups, checkpoints, damage system, inventory, etc... . Thanks, my friend!
    The game isn't ready to be played yet, but we're continuously working and improving all factors, getting nearer to a first demo.
    Speaking of changes...the main character Celly has gone through a major change! A total makeover (as you will see in the screenshots).
    But, her quest remains the same, though...saving the world. Heheheh!
    New and more animations are being created (with iCLone's help, of course), and we also have plans for weapons and other attributes to help Celly in her quest.
    A few props/models have been redone (uv-mapping and texturing), and it improved the framerate of the game!
    I altered the cartoon shader a bit, and made it working with HDR aswell.
    To show you guys all the changes/improvements, a small vid has been recorded with ingame footage. The framerate in that vid is practically half as low as it runs normally, which was caused by running the game AND the recording software at the same time.
    There's also sound added in the game, but not in the vid (small problem with the screen recording software, or some wrong settings). Sorry about that.
    And, the quality of the vid is also much lower than the actuall thing, so that's why I also took a few latest screenshots. So, here they are:
     
    Screenshot taken three weeks ago (old Celly model, and older atmosphere/mood settings):
     

     
    Another screenshot (old Celly model, improved atmosphere/visual settings):
     

     
    Most recent screenshot (new Celly model, and improved atmosphere/visual settings):
     

     
    And finally, an ingame vid of the game:
     


     
    All comments are appreciated. Thanks.
     
    Enjoy!
  4. ChrisV
    Hello all,
     
    For a change, no images this time. Those will come in a later blog, so don't panic.
    We all like music, right? Some are into Jazz, others love house, and some (like myself) love metal.
    Music is another way to express feelings/moods, and most games have music that matches the game/level somehow.
     
    In the previous blog about Seventh Crystal Of Theia, there was no sound in the video, and that was a shame, because there are already a bunch of environmental sounds and music in the game, which add to the overall gaming experience.
     
    That's also one of the reasons to let you guys hear the first (complete) song for the desert level(s). It's oriental with a modern touch. At least, that's how I would call it. Heheh!
     
    I'm not used to this kind of music (mostly I'm doing metal, house, electronic, ambient, horror, arcade...), but I think it worked out pretty good. I could even call it one of my best non-metal songs I did for a long time.
    Guess my classical music lessons at a young age came in handy for this.
     
    Also, this song was done (almost) completely with Native Instruments Komplete Elements, which is awesome!
     
    Anyways, enough talk, here's the first song for S.C.O.T., called 'Arabic'. Hope you'll like it!
     
    Comments/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!
     
     
     
    Arabic.mp3
  5. ChrisV
    Hello everyone,
     
    Why make the lives of artists/animators difficult, while it can be sooo much easier? Well, that's a question I can't answer. But...I can answer this...there IS an easy way to animate 3D characters, AND get them inside your game(s)!
    A few months ago, I bought the Reallusion iCLone Animation Pipeline package, and since then, I haven't regreted it for one moment. Although, I must admit, at first I was rather skeptical and not convinced whether or not to buy the program, but I'm glad I did. This is one of those rare programs that actually does what it says.
    I will not give an in-depth blog about iClone yet (will come later in another blog, I might even do a videoblog ), but rather tell my experience with the iClone package and talk about how I got some animated 3D characters inside S.C.O.T. (Sevent Crystal Of Theia), the adventure/puzzle game that Roland and I are developing.
    Speaking of which, S.C.O.T. has gone through some changes, and we're very pleased how it has evolved. One of these changes is the 'look'. We've gone for a more cartoony/comic kinda look, thanks to Dadonik's Dirty Cartoon Shader. Thanks, man!
    Another change has been that the 'Backyard' level (where the player had the option to change/save game settings) is no more, and is been replaced with an Options-screen that can be accessed during the game. Roland is working on that at the moment, amongst many other nice things, and will soon work on more gameplay features, which will be soo much more fun to do. He's really doing an excellent job at it, and I would like to thank him once more for being such a great person and coder! You are the King, man!
    The game is now working entirely (or most part of it anyways) with SQL, which simplifies many things for the game.
    The splashscreens have been redone, work has been done for the inventory (code and art), new models have been added to the desert level (which has also a newly created sky), some pickups have also been added to the game (for health and such), and...the first 'monster' has been created/animated, and added to the game.
    Which reminds me, soon I'll upload some new skyboxes in the asset store.
    Ok, time for some recent screens.
     
    Here's a new cool 'model' (one of my animated spritesheets) added to the level:
     

     
    Another new model:
     

     
    New sky:
     

     
    And finally, the new 'monster' :
     

     
    Wanted to show more ingame screens, but I'd better leave some for another blog, aye? Hehhehe!
    To finish this blog, I would like to talk a bit more about iClone. I'm sure some of you would love that. And, I will probably make a more detailed (video)blog soon, but for now, let's just keep it basic.
    To begin with, iClone 3DXChange (Animation Pipeline) isn't a modeling program, but you can however create new characters by modifying the basic models (male/female), and import them back into iClone to get them animated, and the process is really simple! Just select the part which you want to modify (in 3DXChange), export as .obj, import in your modeling program, and re-import back into iClone after altering the mesh.
    Also, iClone doesn't have the same rigging tools a regular 3D modeling program has. So, you should do the rigging yourself, and then when imported into 3DXChange, convert the rig to a rig that iCLone can work with. There are already a few standard rig setups available (Maya Human IK, 3ds max biped, 3ds max biped-type 2, DAZ4 Genesis) or create a custom one.
    If you're not an expert on rigging, I'd suggest you get your 3D character rigged (free for models up to 10 K) with Mixamo's Auto Rigger. Very easy to do, and the result is excellent.
    Then, just import this rigged character in iClone 3DXChange, and convert it to a non-standard rig, and apply the Maya rig, which works perfectly for Mixamo's rig. After that, it's just a matter of applying animations to your character, and export your model (including animation) as an .fbx file, and convert to .gmf.
    IClone has many cool features for character animation setup, such as facial animation, lip sync, foot- and handcontact on your models, kinect device recording (for creating your very own moves), and so much more.
    Well, that's it for now. I could talk more about this great program, but then you might think I'm just promoting. Hehhehe!
    Anyways, hope you enjoyed this blog, and 'till the next one. Thanks for your comments.
     
    Cheers
  6. ChrisV
    Hi everyone,
     
    Decided to do another blog on SCOT (Seventh Crystal of Theia) to keep you all up to date on the latest progress, get some good advices from you all, plus it keeps Roland and myself more motivated. And also, because it's great to make blogs, right?
    Firstly, I'm not easily satisfied. I'm not trying to be perfect, but rather someone who's trying to get better.
    So, after walking a few more times in the levels, I noticed that the look was kinda dull, and not as we wanted it to be. That's why I altered/tweaked the light/environment settings a few times more, and finally got the right mood for the game. Pheeeeeeew.
    The Backyard and the Desert level have a much better feel now. Here some screens:
     
    The Desert:
     

     
    The Backyard:
     

     
    As you can see, I've also started on adding a few cool effects.
    The pinkish doorshield is one of my animated spritesheets, which I was able to put in the game, thanks to our shader-guru shadmar. Thanks, man!!
    I've plenty more cool animated spritesheets to add to the game, and I might also put a few free ones in the asset store later.
    Here are more ingame screenies:
     

     

     

     
    Next item I'm going to add to the game, is the first monster. Mwuahahahhaaha!
    And...Roland has been working really hard on more awesomeness for SCOT.
    Celly (teh main character) has been totally re-rigged by Roland, and he's done an excellent job at it! Thanks, man!
    It's a combination of BVH and IK-rigging, and what I've seen so far looks awesome!
    After that, it won't be too long untill actual gameplay will be added.
    But, I'm sure Roland will tell you more about that soon. So, stay tuned, and thanks again for your interest.
     
    Cheers
  7. ChrisV
    Hi all,
     
    Here's the latest news on SCOT ('Seventh Crystal of Theia'), formaly known as CELL.
    Roland and me decided to change the name to SCOT, because it tells a bit more about the game, and also because it sounds good.
    Roland and myself have been doing a lot of work, and the game is really starting to get shape.
    We have similar ideas about the game, which is really nice, and we get along very good, so I would like to thank Roland for being such a great guy! Thanks, man.
    Working as a team requires good communication, and a lot of give and take.
    At the moment, Roland is doing a great job on getting triggers/events working in the game. The transition from one level to another already works, and Roland is also working on game settings.
    Anyways, I'm going to tell a bit more about the game (not in detail, that's for later...), plus show you some new ingame screenshots.
    So, as said before, the game will have similarities of games such as Myst, Riven, Uru, etc...but, also different.
    As for the realtime physcis/puzzles, think of traps that could happen in movies such as 'Indiana Jones'.
    Celly is the main character which you'll have to guide throughout the game, solving puzzles, fighting monsters, avoiding/escaping traps in order to find seven crystals that are hidden somewhere in the 'worlds' she'll be exploring. The whole game is in parts, or so called 'themes', and each theme has several 'cells' or 'worlds'.
    The first theme is 'desert'.
    After Celly has finished a 'cell', she will return to the 'Backyard', which works like a portal to go from one 'world' to another, plus it's also the place where changing game settings will be done.
    Okay, enough with the small talk, time for some screens.
     
    Here's an image of the 'Backyard' (Roland made the very nice looking door, plus redid the statues uv mapping and texture, and he did an excellent job at it!):
     

     
    Here's an image of some vegetation I did, plus the new 'environment' settings:
     

     
    This is a screenshot of Celly inside the cave (added a few glowing mushrooms):
     

     
    Image of a sandbridge:
     

     
    And, finally, a screenshot of Celly inside a building, which is part of the puzzles:
     

     
    More news will come soon. Thanks for your interest.
     
    Cheers
  8. ChrisV
    Hey all,
     
    Some of you might know that Roland and me are working on a Myst like game.
    And, I must say, Roland is a very nice person to work with, is a great programmer, and we also share some hobbies like guitarplaying and art. We have a good chemistry going on between the two of us, which is very important when working as/in a team.
    Myst, Riven, Schizm are probably one of the most popular puzzle/adventure games made.
    And, we plan on making something simular, but at the same time, different.
    While the game involves solving puzzles, or avoiding realtime traps, there will also be shooting, and fighting monsters. An amazing adventure to keep you busy for several hours in beautiful environments.
    This blog is to keep you all up to date on further artistical progress of the game.
    The bridge is a model I've just finished a few hours ago, and I'm really proud of this one.
    So, here are a few screens to whet your appetite.
    These are ingame screens of the first theme called 'desert'.
     

     

     

     

     
    Cheers
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